9 mile run report and my new fear of dogs

Today, I embarked upon my longest run yet, 9 miles. It is actually kind of hard to find good routes for long runs in New Orleans because the city just isn't that big. So I drove to City Park and followed this route (click here for map). It took me through some really pretty parts of Mid-City and the French Quarter. It is important to me to have an interesting route. I hate having a boring route. It makes the run that much more unbearable. Today, I used my new fuel belt for the first time and also tried out GU. Having the water handy really helped me. I took the GU at the 45 minute mark and it definitely gave me a burst of energy. I was totally racing through the Quarter. But then I hit mile 6 and felt a blister forming in the arch of my left foot and also I was having some weird pain in the second toe on my left foot. Those last three miles were tough and my toe pain was getting really bad the last half mile, but I made it and I'm pretty darn proud of myself!

In other news, it seems that in response to getting bit by that dog last year, I have developed a bit of a fear of big dogs while I'm running. The last couple of weeks, I have been getting nervous as I approach big dogs on my runs in the park. I am really nervous I am going to startle them as I run by and they will attack me. Today, as I rounded a corner, I did just that with a Husky (the same breed that bit me, coincidentally) and he lunged at me. It scared the shit out of me and really freaked me out since that is exactly the fear I have been having. I'm not sure what to do about it other than just try to avoid areas where big dogs are.

Other than that, my weekend was uneventful just as planned.